The wannabe Reform man who just last year found them 'scary'

The Welsh Conservatives acted swiftly this week to boot out James Evans, the shadow health minister in the Senedd, after he apparently confessed to leader Darren Millar he’d been talking to Reform about defecting.

Following the example set by Kemi Badenoch’s sacking of Robert Jenrick the previous week, Evans had the whip removed and his membership of the party revoked after, it appears, managing to dob himself in.

“I took the decision to remove James Evans from the Welsh Conservative shadow cabinet and withdraw the Conservative whip,” said Millar. “I did so after being informed by James that he was continuing to engage with Reform representatives about the possibility of defecting to the party, in spite of his personal assurances on Friday that he had rejected an approach they initiated last week.

“Understandably, I expect all Welsh Conservative MSs and candidates to be 100% committed to our party and our plan to fix Wales. Regrettably, James was unable to give me that commitment.”

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Evans, for his part, has said he had been “concerned for some time over the direction of the Conservative Party at a UK level and I feel it no longer represents my conservative values and beliefs”. He has said he will “take some time in the coming weeks to consider my political future” (presumably before May 7, the deadline Nigel Farage has set for Tories to defect to his party, and coincidentally the date of the Senedd election).

If Evans does defect, though, it’s quite the journey he’s been on. As far back as – checks – 2025, Evans told the Welsh politics podcast For Wales See Wales of Reform’s surge in the polls: “I find it quite scary, actually. I was actually talking to somebody at the weekend about Reform’s messaging and using scapegoats and simple slogans for very difficult and complex issues.

“Reform’s arguments of using certain elements and demographics of the population as scapegoats for all our country’s problems is dangerous rhetoric, in my opinion.”

Still, it’s amazing the effect ambition can have on fear. Current polls show Evans wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in Hell of retaining a seat in the Senedd standing under a Tory banner – but with Reform he just might.